Northwoods League Season Put in Stand Still

The summer collegiate baseball leagues all across the nation have struggled to find a start time during the pandemic's lifespan. For the largest league in the nation, it will have to wait longer.

On Thursday the Northwoods League, who has three of their 20 teams in Michigan, announced that the start of the season has been postponed indefinitely. It follows their announcement on April 17th that implied that the May 26th opening day was to be postponed following the recent stay-at-home order in Wisconsin. A majority of the franchises in the league are located in Wisconsin.

While we are certainly disappointed that we won’t be able to open up the 2020 season this month, we know it’s the right call given current public health restrictions.

On the original May 26th Opening Day, the Bombers would have hosted the Pit Spitters at C.O. Brown Stadium. The Growlers would have welcomed the Lakeshore Chinooks at Homer Stryker Field.

Several collegiate baseball leagues have also delayed their starting days including the Great Lakes Collegiate Baseball League, who announced Monday, May 4th that they will begin on July 1st. They normally have 12 teams in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, but will be reduced to nine this season. The other three teams will return in 2021. The lone Michigan team is the Muskegon Clippers, with a roster full of in-state players.

Another regional league, the Prospect League, comprised of teams in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and West Virginia, postponed their season until July 1st as well on April 29th.